Durham College (DC) today announced that it has welcomed more than 11,100 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students to its Oshawa and Whitby campuses and Pickering Learning Site since classes for the 2014-2015 academic year officially began on September 2.  With the college one of only three in Ontario to experience growth this year, the number marks an overall enrolment increase of more than 2.5 per cent over fall 2013 including more than 5,600 new students, and a new college high of 459 international students from more than 32 countries around the globe.

“As we reach the end of the first month of the academic year it’s evident from our enrolment numbers that more students than ever before, including those from abroad, have discovered that at Durham College, the student experience truly does come first,” said Judy Robinson, vice-president, Academic. “From being one of only three colleges in the province to see growth this year – a direct result of our commitment to fostering student success through high-quality academic programs designed to meet the needs of today’s employers –  to the introduction of new programs in areas including health, justice and engineering; our commitment to providing students with opportunities to gain real-world work experience;  academic pathways; and more, we continue to be dedicated to working with our community and business partners to ensure we are offering programs in high-demand areas that will enable to students to serve critical industry needs post-graduation.”

New programs at the college this year include Activation Coordination in Gerontology (graduate certificate), Law Clerk Advanced (fast track) and Mechanical Engineering Technician – Non-Destructive (compressed, fast track), all offered at the Oshawa campus, and Event Management (graduate certificate) and Hospitality Skills, which are offered at the Centre for Food (CFF) at the Whitby campus.

In addition to increasing the number of students on campus and rolling out new programs, September marked other important milestones for the college including the launch of Experience DC, the most progressive marketing campaign in the college’s history. The campaign illustrates the college experience via a unique group of students representing a wide cross-section of programs, personal interests and personalities, through a specially designed website, personal interaction and social media platforms. It was created and to uniquely support the college’s recruitment strategy, enhance reputation and build the DC brand including attracting the attention of the Durham Region, Peterborough/the Kawarthas and Markham/Vaughan markets with robust campaign marketing initiatives in all three areas.

DC also recently launched its first-ever crowdfunding campaign, Field to Fork: Sowing the Seeds of our Community. Inspired by the college’s commitment to bring field to fork, the vision of bringing locally sourced, quality produce from field to table, to Durham Region, the online campaign aims to garner support from the community for the completion of the landscaping and planting needed at the CFF. Supported by ambassador and celebrity chef Jamie Kennedy, the CFF can accommodate approximately 900 students studying in programs based on the field-to-fork concept.

In total, the college offers more than 140 full-time programs through its nine academic schools, along with more than 450 pathway opportunities with universities in Ontario, Canada and around the world.